A City in Darkness: Reminders and Lessons; Evicted Hotel Guests

Published: August 16, 2003

To the Editor:

As a frequent business traveler, I was distressed to see news reports of some New York City hotels turning their guests out onto the streets during the blackout on Thursday night.

The need to evacuate the hotels demonstrates an inexcusable lack of foresight in developing emergency plans and procedures that will honor the hotel's contract with its guests for lodging. It appears that other organizations and people in New York City rose to the occasion, in stark contrast to these hotels.